I wonder what happened to the TiVo stuff... Apparently it was supposed to come out in January?

Does Netflix work? I've been watching Justice League on my usual player and when I saw your post I went and tried to search for it in the TVii app. I found the show's plaque, but it says no episodes available. Just as proof of concept I am playing and episode via the Wii U right now, so the Netflix app works, but TVii search thing - not so much. Any others find Netfix shows via TVii search? Justice League specifically?

Yeah, seems like there's some issues with the integration. I just checked and it also says no episodes available for Justice League. On the other hand, a currently-airing Law and Order shows me a choice between my TV antenna and Netflix to watch it, so at least some Netflix shows are in there?

So you've cleared NSMB U? Beaten every level, gotten every star coin, found every hidden exit? Gotten Gold Medals on all the challenges? Think you're pretty good at the game? Nope. Sorry. You're still just a n00b.

EA is not porting Madden 14 to the Wii U. On one hand I can understand it because no one is playing it (average of 50 players online at any given time) but on the other it came out in late November. The majority of players already bought the game back in August.

I imagine it's part of EA's recent cost cutting moves. NFS didn't do well either...course that one came out like 5 months after the other versions, and from some other posts I've seen around, didn't seem to have all that much retail presence (or advertising for that matter). Checking Gamestop shows it as low stock everywhere, Best Buy has mixed availability.

So ASDA (the UK arm of the Wal-Mart empire) has kicked off a bit of a price slide on the Wii U, so I picked up the basic pack from Amazon for £150 (I figured I'd be adding an external HDD sooner or later anyway, and this way it matches my white Wii peripherals ). It'll look great next to my Vita as part of my Underappreciated Gaming Device collection. Awaiting delivery now, but I was wondering if there's any particularly standout titles on the eShop right now? The 3DS eShop has been particularly strong, so I'm hopeful for similar from its younger sibling.

I discovered something: I can use the gamepad from my bedroom upstairs (directly over where the WiiU is located). This has put a serious damper on how long I sleep. Also, swearing at games in bed while the wife is sleeping, not a good thing

OK, so I'm coming to this very late-- I figured the Wii-U would be a very tough sell for me, at least until Nintendo solves the chicken-and-egg problem of not having enough first party and exclusive titles. I'm not interested in anything that's going to be available elsewhere. The idea of maybe getting to own the next Dreamcast has some allure, but maybe not $350 worth...

But I've just entered the target demographic that Nintendo needs to cater to-- those who have an original Wii that died. Mine's no longer reading disks, and the way the firmware works, it requires a reboot to try again. I can get it to read maybe one out of 10 times, and while I could live without my Wii, my 7-year-old is devastated.

So what games out there are actually good enough to justify the price of a Wii-U vs. just buying a Wii as a straight up replacement?

I loved Mario and the Luigi DLC is coming out this summer. NintendoLand is interesting and fun with a group but I don't know if I'd pay full price for it. I've heard great things about Lego City but my backlog is too large right now to buy it.

Scribblenauts was just ok. My wife liked it a lot more than I did. ZombieU and Assassin's Creed 3 probably aren't appropriate for your kid.

New Super Mario Bros. U, Nintendo Land (as a pack in not full price), Nano Assault Neo (eShop), Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate (has a demo), Rayman Legends Challenges (free), Mass Effect 3 if you've somehow played the other two but not this one. My wife loves Just Dance 4I've heard good things about Lego City

My 7-year old daughter loves New Super Mario Bros U, thinks Scribblenauts is just ok (not sure why since she loved the DS versions), loves Nintendoland, is quite taken with Miiverse and all the cool drawings, and is currently digging the Google Street View app.

If I were you, I would go for the Wii U. It doesn't make sense to buy another Wii, especially if you plan to buy the Wii U down the road.

Edit: Forgot about Rayman Legends - the demo alone is amazing and the new Challenge app is great to tide her and I over until the full retail release.

It looks like NintendoLand comes with the black Wii-U, so that's maybe enough value-add (plus the 32 GB capacity) to justify that model.

The Mario game has really been the only thing that looked really interesting, but if there's a Just Dance 4, a Just Dance Kids is probably not far off... Scribblenauts might be worth getting, but I've held off getting it on Android so far.

I may get use out of it, but it's more a family device. I have no real desire to play Assassins Creed on Wii-U, but I hear Zombii-U is decent. Obviously that's not a huge selling point for a device that's also going to play stuff like WiiParty and Cooking Mama (At least I have some value out of the back catalog.)

Note that there's a Zombi U bundle (...I think, or Monster Hunter 3U?) which comes with a Pro controller as well as the game and Nintendo Land. Some places like Target have had console + $50 gift card deals now and then to go on top of that.

I was in Target and they were offering Nintendoland free with the White 8GB model. Total cost is $299. Of course that means that fairly quickly you will have to insert a large SD card or attach a HDD, but as a tech dude, you probably have those lying in the spare parts bin.

My 7-year old daughter loves New Super Mario Bros U, thinks Scribblenauts is just ok (not sure why since she loved the DS versions), loves Nintendoland, is quite taken with Miiverse and all the cool drawings, and is currently digging the Google Street View app.

If I were you, I would go for the Wii U. It doesn't make sense to buy another Wii, especially if you plan to buy the Wii U down the road.

Edit: Forgot about Rayman Legends - the demo alone is amazing and the new Challenge app is great to tide her and I over until the full retail release.

This. My girls are huge SMWU fans now and play Nintendoland and Sonic racing all the time. The off TV play is a must for them.

Well, the Wii U has arrived. I'm posting this while my Mii plays rock-paper-scissors with my brother on the TV, which is pretty cute. I also just did the Wii system transfer thing, and the animation blew my fanboy mind. Those sort of UI touches are exactly why I still buy Nintendo consoles.

Definitely looking forward to what Nintendo pull out of their collective hats come E3.

Well, the Wii U has arrived. I'm posting this while my Mii plays rock-paper-scissors with my brother on the TV, which is pretty cute. I also just did the Wii system transfer thing, and the animation blew my fanboy mind. Those sort of UI touches are exactly why I still buy Nintendo consoles.

Definitely looking forward to what Nintendo pull out of their collective hats come E3.

I just got an email saying Super Metroid was going to be available for $.30 starting May 16. They were refunding me 150 club nintendo points because I had bought it earlier for the Wii's Virtual Console. So good deal, Super Metroid next week for 30 cents.

I just got an email saying Super Metroid was going to be available for $.30 starting May 16. They were refunding me 150 club nintendo points because I had bought it earlier for the Wii's Virtual Console. So good deal, Super Metroid next week for 30 cents.

I suppose I'll buy it again. Would be nice if they let me use my old Wii save file data.

I really like the fact that I don't need to have "points" to buy something and I can just use my credit card to pay. I made a 32 cent purchase with my card earlier because I didn't want to buy points. I'm a little surprised it let me make a purchase that small.

That's a good start, but Nintendo really needs some big surprises. The Wii U could generously be described as floundering, and there's hasn't been an equivalent to the 3DS' price cut and ambassador program to help spur demand. Ultimately it's all about the games, but Nintendo has a limited amount of time to turn the narrative around before it becomes permanent.

^^ I continue to contend it's about price. NintendoLand is enough to draw in kids and thereby families. But not at original Xbox 360 pricing. Nintendo needs to take a lesson from the 3DS, acknowledge it's not running with the big boys here, and price Wii U as a value system for parents.

Yeah. The pricing isn't unreasonable as far as it goes (at launch at least Nintendo was even selling it at a loss), but in the absolute sense it's too expensive. Although I don't think a price cut alone is going to be enough. There has to be software driving those sales. The 3DS got the price cut and then a few months later got Mario Kart 7 and Mario 3D Land, which was a huge boost (didn't hurt that they were both excellent games as well). Mario Kart+3D Mario this year plus Smash early next year (likely the same March time frame Brawl hit) will be a big boost. The wild card in all of this is Retro. They're one of Nintendo's top studios and one of the top studios in the industry period, and they're Western and can make a game tailored to Western tastes. Nobody has any idea of what they're doing (I have a friend who works there and no exaggeration the most I've gotten out of them is "We're making a new game for a Nintendo system"). If they can knock out a home run to launch this holiday season then you've got Wind Waker HD, Mario Kart, 3D Mario, and a Retro title to round it out, following Pikmin 3 and Wonderful 101 in August/September. That's a pretty compelling line-up, and that plus a price cut could go a long way. That goes double if MS/Sony launch at $400+, which is sounding increasingly likely, which would price them out of a huge chunk of the market.

The Wii U is not unsalvageable yet, but if they don't put it well on the road to recovery by the end of this year it could be. The PS3 turned it around later still, but it never cratered as hard and I strongly think the market is fundamentally different than it was in 2006-2008, and in more than just the economy.